OMG… like amazing. Just… wow… Words simply are an understatement to how well done this episode is. Yeah~yeah, I’ve been saying the same thing in each episode, but seriously. You can’t deny the flawlessness of this episode.
In the beginning of the episode we finally see the change in Oreki who sees the efforts that others put in their life. So with Chitanda as his first catalyst, he began putting some effort into his life. You can clearly see his change due to the way it can be contrasted to his past self. And I must say they’ve done a better job of conveying a changing character than most other series. Granted the change may be quite fast, I overlooked this since the transition was clear with pretext and not forced. Also it is out weight by the pros of the episode.
Here Oreki wonders what is rose-coloured life was and from here on begins to put in some effort to the things he does. This “rose-coloured life” thing also seems to have a connection to the back story of Fukube and though small, this is another foreshadowing to his arc. However the foreshadowing is not the main reason for the “rose-coloured life” thing. Its true purpose is to bridge the scene back to Sekitani Juns arc, which fortunately was not over.
Now this is where Hyouka truly shines. In its core, the mystery story isn’t anything epic or complex; it’s a story so simple its mind boggling to see that it’s amazing. You see its flawlessness from its mere simplicity comes from the way they conveyed and portrayed the story and the way they built the tension towards the end. The story’s shot composition, dialogue, the placement of plots, and the way everything was put together created a scene as moving and as great as this.
I noticed that another redeeming factor of the series is its grand animation. There are many scenes and shots in the series that have a lot of well-done movement. An example I’ll use is the scene where Ibara helps out the librarian teacher, there is a lot of animation there that the story could do without but they put it there simply to complement the environment and create a better school-like atmosphere. So not only do they put effort into animation directly for the story they also put in extra animation to things that would complement the overall feel of the series.
I also love the fact that they put effort into the smaller things such are the time lapse of the librarian teacher to 45 years ago, or the reason why the martial arts center is still up, which is apparently was a foreshadowing from episode one, even the reason people called the cultural fair the "Kan'ya Fair", this too was a foreshadowing from episode two. The series may go without these details but it is these details that make the series greater.
Personally, I find the scene of the rabbit and the wolf (shown as the first image in this post) very moving, it clearly shows the gravity of the situation and the emotions that Chitanda felt. Simply amazing. Also the ice cream pun and how it ties with the club, it is yet again so simple, but it works so well! Really, this series must be celebrated as it does away with complex plots and twist that others try so hard to go with and fail and opts for the simple. It takes this simplicity and surrounds it with other simple features then strengthens the structure of the story leaving its viewers stunned.
Yes, I may be exaggerating the awesomeness of this episode but I’m the kind that either praises what I like with my might or destroys it with everything I got. Also you don’t get to see a series as well done as this everywhere do you? Truly this is a series worth your while.
Ice Cream… for the Sekitani Jun
Ice Cream… for the flawless series
Ice Cream… for Hyouka
Ice Cream…
OkamiSan~
